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Ali's former Olympic coach dies at 90

Associated Press
12:09 p.m. EDT April 19, 2013

Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, stands over fallen challenger Sonny Liston, shouting and gesturing shortly after dropping Liston with a short hard right to the jaw on May 25, 1965, in Lewiston, Maine. The bout lasted only one minute into the first round. Ali is the only man ever to win the world heavyweight boxing championship three times. He also won a gold medal in the light-heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome as a member of the U.S. Olympic boxing team. (AP Photo/John Rooney) ORG XMIT: LEW24(Photo: John Rooney, Associated Press)

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Julius Menendez, who coach Ali to the gold medal in the 1960 Olympics, passed away on April 14

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Julius Menendez, who coached Muhammad Ali to the gold medal at the 1960 Olympics, has died. He was 90.

San Jose State University says Menendez died April 14 in Gilroy, California, two days before his 91st birthday.

Menendez was the head boxing coach for the United States in the 1960 Olympics in Rome when Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, won the light heavyweight division. Eddie Crook Jr. and Wilbert McClure also won gold medals for the U.S. that year.

Menendez also coached the U.S. men's soccer team in the 1976 Olympics and was the assistant for the 1972 soccer team.

Menendez also won three U.S. college championships as coach at San Jose State and won 295 games in 36 seasons as the Spartans' soccer coach.

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